Threading the Needles: Correlating Disparate Data for Connected Care

From smartphones to wearables to EHRs, healthcare data is being collected at unprecedented speeds and across a multitude of platforms. Unfortunately, the consumerization of healthcare technology thus far has only enabled the collection of fragmented data. As the U.S. healthcare system shifts to address the current chronic disease epidemic, disrupting these data siloes will be key to the continuous, connected care delivery model of the future. I recently had the pleasure of speaking at Health IT Summit and Health Slam about why and how we must redesign our healthcare system to empower both individuals and physicians with the data they need at their fingertips.

Imagine enabling an individual to easily share the data from her fitness app with her physician, whenever and wherever she chooses. Like threading a needle, the data would flow securely and precisely where it is needed within set parameters. And that’s just one health tool. Now imagine connecting all of the individual’s myriad digital health tools across provider systems and throughout physicians’ offices. It is a task akin to lining up several needles and using that single thread to connect them all. I know it sounds incredibly difficult, but it’s the only way we are going to see real breakthroughs in care.